Nature Vs. Nurture in an Essay

The general public has come to accept the sway of almighty genes in the human personality and destiny (De Waal).

Studies of the behaviors of chimpanzees and bonobos illustrate striking similarities to human behaviors and suggest evolution and kinship (De Waal 1999). These range from politics, child rearing to violence and morality. There is no place for a blank slate. Human beings are naturally selfish and aggressive or they have evolved into cooperative and loving creatures. At the same time, the resemblance rejects genetic or biological determinism. Genes are merely biological inputs into the personality, powerless to dictate the course of its development. And the environment contributes passing stimulations, which eventually fade out. Oncoming researches promise to integrate developmental, genetic, cultural and evolutionary approaches into one integrated perspective. These developments will incline students and advocates of animal behavior towards environmental effects on human behavior, as in the case of primates and marine animals. These suggest that information and habits are culturally transmitted from them to human beings. These developments may erase the boundary between the extremes of nature and nurture and introduce a new understanding of human behavior in their merger (De Waal).

Comparison

The two authors agree that the human mind does not begin as a tabular rasa or a black slate. Nature is a given. Parents and other ancestors provide the genes and cultural enhancements. Neither nature nor nurture determines everything in the development of human personality or society. In many cases, parents are not to be blamed at all (Pinker 2002). How the individual responds to a particular stimulus is determined by his own uniqueness, spurred by chance events. A still-unrecognized development process, inherent in human nature, is at work in that uniqueness. It is neither nature nor nurture.

De Waal (1999) similarly rejects genetic determinism as the force behind the dynamics of the human mind and society. He believes that a continuity exists between the culture of primates and marine animals and human beings. Both negative and positive cultural traits are in common among the species. These suggest that human beings are more sociable, cooperative and creative than primates, except when motivated by malice and destructiveness (De Waal).

Both authors visualize an oncoming integrated approach to the opposition between nature and nurture. This will not only blend the opposite views but also lead to the discovery of other details on the amazing phenomenon of the human mind. #

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Pinker, Steven. Why the Nature/Nurture Debate Won't Go Away. Boston Globe: Globe

Newspaper Company, October 13, 2002…